276 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XV. No. 372. 



light, viz., that they eat clover (species of 

 Trifolium), not the flower-heads, as vehite chil- 

 dren do sometimes, but the leaves and stems, 

 quite after the manner of other herbivorous 

 animals ! " From the beginning of April along 

 into July it is no uncommon sight to see small 

 groups of Indians wallowing in the clover and 

 eating it by handfuls, or to see an Indian 

 squaw emerging from a patch of clover and 

 carrying a red bandana handkerchief full of 

 the crisp stems." 



Charles E. Bessey. 

 The University op Nebraska. 



ELIZABETB THOMPSON SCIENCE FUND. 



This fund, which was established by Mrs. 

 Elizabeth Thompson, of Stamford, Connecti- 

 cut, 'for the advancement and prosecution of 

 scientific research in its broadest sense,' now 

 amounts to $26,000. As accumulated income 

 will be available November next, the trustees 

 desire to receive applications for appropria- 

 tions in aid of scientific work. This endow- 

 ment is not for the benefit of any one depart- 

 ment of science, but it is the intention of the 

 trustees to give the preference to those inves- 

 tigations which cannot otherwise he provided 

 for, which have for their object the advance- 

 ment of human knowledge or the benefit of 

 mankind in general, rather than to researches 

 directed to the solution of questions of merely 

 local importance. 



Applications for assistance from this fund, 

 in order to receive consideration, must he ac- 

 companied hy full information, especially in 

 regard to the following points : 



1. Precise amount required. Applicants are 

 reminded that one dollar ($1.00 or $1) is ap- 

 proximately equivalent to four English shil- 

 lings, four German Marks, five French francs, 

 or five Italian lire. 



2. Exact nature of the investigation pro- 



3. Conditions under which the research is 

 to be prosecuted. 



4. Manner in which the appropriation asked 

 for is to be expended. 



All applications should reach, before April 

 1, 1902, the Secretary of the Board of Trus- 



tees, Dr. C. S. Minot, Harvard Medical School, 

 Boston, Mass., U. S. A. 



It is intended to make new grants in April, 

 1902. 



The trustees are disinclined, for the pres- 

 ent, to make any grant to meet ordinary ex- 

 penses of living or to purchase instruments, 

 such as are found commonly in laboratories. 

 Decided preference will be given to applica- 

 tions for small amounts, and grants exceeding 

 $300 will be made only under very exceptional 

 circumstances. 



A list of the grants recently made is given 

 below. 



(Signed.) 



Henry P. Bowditch, President. 

 Charles S. Rackemann, Treasurer. 

 James M. Crafts. 

 Edward C. Pickering. 

 Charles-Sedgwick Minot, Secretary. 

 1900. 



$200, to Dr. H. H. Field, Zurich, Switzerland, 

 to aid in the publication of a card catalogue of 

 biological literature. 



$500, to S. H. Scudder, Esq., Cambridge, Mass., 

 for the preparation of an index to North Ameri- 

 can Orthoptera. 



$300, to Professor P. Bachmetjew, Sofia, Bul- 

 garia, for researches on the temperature of in- 

 sects. 



$250, to Dr. E. S. Faust, Strassburg, Germany, 

 for an investigation of the poisonous secretion of 

 the skin of Amphibia. 



$250, to Professor Jacques Loeb, Chicago, TIL, 

 for experiments on artificial parthenogenesis. 



$650, to the National Academy of Sciences, 

 Washington, D. C, towards the expenses of three 

 delegates to attend the conference of academies at 

 Wiesbaden in October, 1899, to consider the for- 

 mation of an International Association of Acad- 

 emies. 



1901. 



$150, to Professor E. W. Scripture, New Haven, 

 Conn., for work in experimental phonetics. 



$300, to Professor W. Valentiner, Heidelberg, 

 Germany, for observations on variable stars. 



$50, to A. M. Reese, Esq., Baltimore, Md., for 

 investigation of the embryology of the alligator. 



1902. 

 $125, to F. T. Lewis, M.D., Cambridge, Mass., 

 for investigation of the development of the vena 

 cava inferior. 



